


Pass, Shoot, Score

by empress_ofbloodshed



Category: Throne of Glass Series - Sarah J. Maas
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-09
Updated: 2020-09-09
Packaged: 2021-03-09 05:03:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,432
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27499129
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/empress_ofbloodshed/pseuds/empress_ofbloodshed
Summary: enjoy over 5k words of rowaelin being stupid idiots pining for each other but make it high school lax au with a sprinkling of angst and a heaping spoonful of fluff
Relationships: Aelin Ashryver Galathynius | Celaena Sardothien & Rowan Whitethorn, Elide Lochan/Lorcan Salvaterre
Kudos: 19





	Pass, Shoot, Score

A cheer went through the bus as Aelin stepped up into it, her water bottle in one hand and her phone in the other. Her backpack was filled with snacks, her portable charger, a book, what remained of her homework, and a thick fleece stadium blanket. Aelin hated being cold. Rowan shoved her toward the back of the bus where Fenrys was waving and calling her name, at least until Lorcan whacked him to shut up. Greeting Fenrys with their handshake, Aelin grinned as she slid into the window seat and Rowan sat down next to her. Their thighs were pressed together, the warmth in his leg leeching into her slowly.

Aelin ducked her head to hide her blush. It was no secret to some of her closest friends that she had a crush on Rowan Whitethorn.

Orynth’s boys lacrosse team always needed managers. Since Aelin had torn her ACL last summer on the tournament circuit with her club team, she jumped at the chance to be one of the managers. It was an added bonus that she got to spend even more time with Rowan.

The bus quieted as their coach stepped on. Gavriel Lions was young, yet he ran a tight ship. He played at the University of Doranelle and even went pro for a couple of years before a shoulder injury forced him to retire. Somehow he ended up in Orynth coaching a high school boys lacrosse team. One that had gone all the way to states for the past two years.

“Count off, boys,” Gavriel called out. Numbers ran through the bus, all the way up to twenty-three and ending with the freshmen up front. They always brought along a few underclassmen good enough to dress for varsity in case they were needed. “It’s a long drive today, so sit back, relax, nap, I don’t care. Just be ready to play when we get there.”

Aelin pulled her homework out of her bag and plugged in her headphones, shifting to lean against the side of the bus and stretch her feet across Rowan’s lap. He glowered but allowed it. She was the injured one here. They were barely halfway there by the time Aelin finished her homework. Rowan was passed out beside her, same with the Moonbeam twins across the way. From behind her, she heard Lorcan talking quietly on the phone, probably to Elide. Removing her legs from her best friend’s lap, Aelin pulled the blanket from her bag and curled up underneath it with her shins to the wall. She gingerly rested her head on Rowan’s shoulder and when he didn’t stir, used his shoulder as her pillow.

The bus rumbled to a stop and Aelin blinked, groggily rubbing her eyes. There was that short little flash of time where she didn’t remember where she was or what she was doing until Rowan flicked her nose. Oh right, lacrosse game.

“Wake up, Ace. We’re here,” he murmured.

Aelin untangled herself from her blanket with a yawn, her knee aching. Even with the brace, it still throbbed from being in one position for too long. She told the boys to go ahead, the last to leave the bus as she tried to rub some of the soreness out. Gavriel sent the team on ahead to the locker room after grabbing their sticks and bags from the truck, waiting for Aelin.

“How’s your knee, Galathynius?” the coach asked, matching her slow pace as they headed for the field.

“Sore,” Aelin grimaced. “I just need to walk around some, then I’ll be fine.”

An hour later, Aelin sat wrapped up in her blanket at the table and shivered. Keeping the books was a necessary evil, even if her fingers were practically numb and she could barely feel the pen in hand. After the sun set, it got _cold_. It was the last week of March but then again, the boys team had been known to play scrimmages in the snow in previous years. Terrasen was always winter cold until about halfway through April. Aelin just wanted to go home and take a nice long _hot_ shower. Hot being the key word here.

During the intermission between the second and third quarters, Aelin snuck over and stole Rowan’s nice lined, personalized jacket off the bench. He didn’t need it anyway, he was playing and keeping warm.

There was less than a minute left in the game. The score was tied 7-7. The other team shot and Lorcan stopped it. Stepping out of the safety of his crease, Lorcan walked up to the fifteen. Both teams shifted, eager for the ball. Lorcan threw it and white arced through the air, right into the pocket of Rowan’s stick. Rowan took off down the field, evading what remained of the other’s team defense and faking the goalie to take a shot. Aelin could barely contain her excitement as she saw the net flick upward with the bounce of the ball and the buzzer sound as the clock ran out.

Cheering erupted through the stadium as Rowan was surrounded and congratulated on scoring the game-winning goal by his team once he stepped off the field. After both teams shook hands, Aelin giggled watching Rowan hunt for his jacket. Then he looked at her and shook his head; it only made Aelin laugh.

Stalking over to her as the rest of the team filed toward the locker room, Rowan held out a hand for his jacket. “Gimme my jacket, Ace. It’s cold,” he said.

“No. It’s warm,” Aelin pouted, sticking out her bottom lip.

She shrieked as Rowan threw her over his shoulder and carried her into the warmth of the locker room, handing her to Fenrys while he undressed. Aelin had been in the locker room before, but this time she couldn’t help but watch as the muscles in Rowan’s back rippled and shifted when he pulled off his sweaty undershirt and exchanged it for a clean shirt from his bag. Suddenly she was very warm. This time when Rowan held out his hand for his jacket, Aelin took it off and gave it to him without a fight or a snarky remark.

Her best friend was high-fived all the way through the bus to the back, one of the last to get on. Aelin shoved him out of the way because he was about to steal her window seat, sliding into the seat before he could sit down. Rowan flopped onto the seat, dragging a hand through his damp, sweaty silver hair. He smelled like sweat and the faint hint of his deodorant, but Aelin didn’t care. His hand rested on top of her thigh innocently while he talked with Fenrys about the goal, thumb rubbing small circles on the fabric of her leggings. Aelin couldn’t focus, couldn’t breathe. But she didn’t want him to stop.

Food was passed back and Rowan pulled his hand away to eat. Aelin stole his chips, squealing as he tickled her until he could quickly grab them back. Lorcan hissed at them both to shut the fuck up, he wanted to sleep on the way home.

Rowan unlocked his phone and handed it to her, fishing a headphone splitter from the mess that was his backpack. Aelin opened his Netflix and perused through what he had downloaded, eventually settling on The Umbrella Academy. She burrowed into his side, his arm coming to rest around her shoulders and hold her in place. His free hand held his phone so they could watch.

By the time they returned to the school, Aelin didn’t want to move. She grumbled as Rowan pulled away to stand in the aisle and stretch, joints popping. Dragging her feet, she trudged off the bus and headed for Rowan’s Jeep. He followed her shortly, throwing his bag and stick into the backseat. Aelin knew it was such a classic cliche to like her best friend who also happened to be her nextdoor neighbor.

The sound of her father’s voice and Rowan’s own were distant through the haze of sleep and Aelin just wanted to go to bed. She was laid down on her bed and had the covers pulled up, barely coherent enough to feel the brush of Rowan’s fingers on her cheek as he brushed a strand of hair off her face. Then came the softness of his lips on the crown of her head. “Night, Aelin,” he whispered, so low she barely heard it. Her door clicked shut and Aelin tipped headfirst into exhaustion, her hot shower forgotten.

* * *

Rowan glanced over to check on Aelin at the stop light, seeing as she was being uncharacteristically quiet. Her lead lolled to the side, propped up on her fist. He smiled; she was asleep.

Pulling into his driveway, Rowan gathered his gear and dumped it on his front porch to get after he took Aelin home. Hurrying around to the passenger side, he unbuckled her seatbelt and lifted her into his arms. Aelin mumbled in her sleep, burying her nose into his hoodie. Rhoe Galathynius opened the door, chatting quietly with Rowan about the game. Neither wanted to wake Aelin. Then he headed upstairs to her room, lying his best friend in her bed and pulling the blankets up. After brushing a loose strand of golden hair off of her cheek, Rowan leaned down to press his lips to the crown of her head.

He couldn’t resist.

Rowan knew how stupid it was to wish Aelin wanted to be more than friends. Gods, they were best friends. They knew everything about each other, even what they didn’t want the other to know. Like he knew Aelin cried over the ending of one of her books for a good two hours. And how horribly awkward her first kiss with Chaol was. Like she knew how he tripped running down the street and faceplanted into the concrete, breaking his nose. 

Aelin Galathynius haunted his dreams and every waking moment.

Her being of the team’s managers didn’t help. On the field, he would glance over to see her head of golden-blonde hair watching the game. Their eyes would meet and then he would be pulled away.

Lorcan used to give Rowan shit about his crush on Aelin because all of their friend group knew about it. It wasn’t exactly easy to hide, although he did his best. _A dog on a leash_ , Lorcan sneered. Now that the goalie was dating Elide, Rowan snorted a laugh. Poetic justice.

After his shower he barely bothered to dress, throwing on a pair of boxers and falling into his bed. He was asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.

* * *

Even though they had gotten back after midnight last night, Aelin was loathe to skip their Saturday morning routine. Every week, without fail, they made pancakes and ate them on the back porch.

Crawling out of bed, she showered quickly and pulled her hair up into a bun to hide how greasy it was. She exchanged yesterday’s clothes for a clean pair of forest green leggings and one of the many oversized hoodies she had stolen from her best friend’s closet over the years. Just because she felt like it, Aelin spritzed a teensy bit of her favorite perfume onto her wrists and neck. Then she headed over.

The Whitethorn-Ferra household’s back door was never locked on Saturday mornings. Rowan’s aunt Maeve worked at the hospital, so she was gone by the time Aelin slipped quietly into the kitchen. The rest of the house was quiet. After Rowan’s parents died in a car crash, he came to live with his aunt next door to Aelin. Young Rowan and Aelin hated each other but then they became best friends the way that kids do.

Bouncing up the stairs, she padded down the hall on her tiptoes and avoided all the creaky spots on the hardwood floor. Rowan’s door was mostly closed. Aelin pushed it open, launching herself onto his bed. If Rowan had been asleep before, he sure as Hels wasn’t now. Her best friend groaned, stuffing his face into his pillow. Aelin laid her ice cold hands flat against his shoulder blades and smiled at his warmth, even though he shivered underneath her.

“Why are you so godsdamned cold all the time?” Rowan grumbled, his words muffled by the pillow. Then he sat up and Aelin scrambled to find a position where she wouldn’t fall off the edge. His eyes lingered on her (his) hoodie. “Dammit Aelin, stop stealing my hoodies. I barely have enough as it is without you stealing them.”

Aelin grinned, winking at him. “Never.”

She sat on his bed scrolling mindlessly through her Instagram while he threw on a pair of plaid flannel pajama pants and a Orynth Lacrosse shirt. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed him quickly swipe on some deodorant, the good smelling one that she liked. It was his scent, the one she always recognized as Rowan Whitethorn.

“Done yet?” she drawled, falling backwards onto his bed and flinging her arms out. Rowan’s face hovered above hers. His pine green eyes narrowed and his lips twitched up into the ghost of a smile. Aelin shrieked as he tickled her, trying to get away from him as fast as possible.

Downstairs in the kitchen, Rowan turned on the radio to a rock station and reached over Aelin to get the bowl down from the cabinet. She hated being short. Everyone made fun of her for it, even though she was a good 5’6. But her best friend was 6’2, Fenrys and Aedion six foot even, and Lorcan dwarfed them all at 6’5. They joked her temper came with her height because she was closer to Hel.

Finally, a massive stack of chocolate chip and blueberry pancakes sat on a plate. Chocolate chip for her, blueberry for Rowan. Because Maeve wasn’t home, they snuck their food up to the roof, accessed through Rowan’s window. There, they sat with plates on their lap, content with silence as they ate. Aelin took their dirty dishes to the kitchen, returning to the roof with a blanket from his bed. Rowan forced her to share the massive blanket, their shoulders bumping awkwardly as they shifted until it worked.

Some days they would sneak out here to watch the sunrise, huddled together with steaming mugs of cocoa if it was cold enough. Even though the sun was already up, Aelin was perfectly content to watch the clouds cross the sky as the breeze toyed with loose strands of her hair.

She could feel Rowan’s eyes on her but didn’t turn to look at him. Looking would break the serenity of the moment.

* * *

Rowan could watch Aelin for hours. Watch the flutter of her long lashes as she blinked, the bob of her throat as she swallowed, the joy on her face as she pointed out what shapes the clouds made. He knew it sounded creepy as all Hel. But there was just something about her that captivated him.

It was like looking into a fire and watching the flames. If Aelin was the fire.

In a way, though, she was. Just as captivating, just as wild. When the sun hit her hair just right she became a living flame.

Aelin leaned her head onto his shoulder, her arms wrapping around his chest. Rowan loosely rested his arm around her shoulders, toying with the sleeve of her hoodie. 

He wanted to tell her so badly. But he feared he would ruin their friendship with his confession. And that was something he never wanted to happen, never in a million years. This type of friendship was irreplaceable.

“Fireheart,” he murmured.

Aelin murmured her own response of, “Buzzard.”

Endearments. Their own way of expressing their love for one another without ever actually saying those three words.

☩ ☩ ☩

Two weeks later, Rowan was heading to class when he heard Cairn. “Come on, Aelin. Friday night, us and a six-pack. I’ll show you things you’ve never imagined,” Cairn crooned.

Rowan seethed. He knew Aelin was more than capable of standing up for herself in one of these situations, but he hated Cairn. Last year he checked a guy so hard he was cut from the team because the kid’s parents sued due to the severity of his concussion. Now Cairn O’Donnell wasn’t allowed anywhere near the lacrosse team or the field in general.

Aelin barked a harsh laugh. “Not interested, never will be,” she said, her voice cold. End of discussion, it said.

Cairn didn’t take the blindingly obvious hint. He kept pressuring Aelin. Rowan had enough.

“Back off, man,” he said calmly, trying to diffuse the rapidly escalating tensions. “She said she’s not interested, now walk away.”

“Oh, I see. That bitch Galathynius has got you pussy-whipped at her side. Tell me, Rowan, if she shuts her smart mouth when you’re fucking her. Or better yet, shoving your dick down herー” Cairn never got the chance to finish whatever he was about to say because Rowan slammed his fist into the bastard’s nose. There was a sickening crunch and blood dripped from both Rowan’s knuckles and Cairn’s nose.

“Don’t talk about Aelin that way,” Rowan snarled, punching him over and over. No one talked about Aelin like that. No one. Cairn managed a few good shots to Rowan’s jaw and his stomach before they were pulled apart.

“Office, now,” the assistant principal hissed at both boys. “Miss Galathynius, you come too.”

Aelin and Rowan sat side by side in the principal’s waiting room, Rowan holding an ice pack from the nurse to his jaw. He squeezed Aelin’s hand, shooting her a reassuring smile. His best friend shook her head, her shoulders sagging.

“That was so fucking dumb, Rowan,” she whispered. The secretary glared daggers at them for even whispering. “You’re gonna get suspended.”

Before Rowan could reply, his phone buzzed with a text from Vaughan. It was a video someone took just before Rowan punched Cairn. He turned the screen over, not wanting to relive the moment. “I won’t let anyone say shit like that about you, Ace,” he confessed in a rush.

Then he was called into the office and listened to the principal tell him that fighting wasn’t allowed, that he was suspended from school for the rest of the weekーonly three days. But his suspension from lacrosse lasted an entire week. Rowan cursed silently. He was so godsdamned stupid. As good as it felt to punch Cairn, he regretted it now.

Well, not entirely. The bastard deserved it.

The forced weeklong break was horrible with a capital H. Every day felt like another twelve hours were added onto it, the minutes dragging out until Rowan was stir-crazy.

When the day came for him to rejoin the team at practice, Rowan changed faster than ever before and bounced up and down waiting for the others to be ready. Lorcan chucked a ball at him to calm the fuck down.

A knock on the locker room door. Everyone turned, frowning at each other. Rowan heard Aelin’s voice, muffled through the door: “You decent, boys?” There was a chorus of _yes, ma’am_ s and then the door swung open to reveal Aelin with a whistle around her neck.

“Gavriel’s running late, stuck in traffic,” Aelin began, fiddling with the cord for the whistle. “He told me to run conditioning because your assistant coaches can’t make it today. I want you on the field in five minutes. Got it?”

Another round of _yes, ma’am_ s.

Rowan trailed Aelin out onto the field, his helmet knocking against her hip as they walked side-by-side. The rest of the team followed shortly after. They stretched and warmed up, Aelin just watching instead of walking through the lines chatting with them like she normally did. That wasn’t a good sign.

* * *

“On the line!” Aelin barked, barely hiding her smile as the boys scrambled. She folded her hands behind her back, pacing back and forth before them. “If you want to make it to states again this year, you’ve got to be better. Faster. Ruthless.” She added a pause for dramatic effect, silently giggling at the fear in their eyes as they toed the turf. “Today we’ll be running hundreds. You have eighteen seconds to make it down, forty-two to make it back. Hit me and I’ll add another five. Ask me how many are left and I’ll add another. Don’t make it back in time, I’ll add another. The clock is continuous; use your recovery. Got it?” A line of boys nodding was her only answer. “Good.”

Gavriel told her to choose whatever she wanted them to do, he trusted her. The two of them had actually planned this weeks ago. He wasn’t stuck in traffic, he was actually watching from the building. Not that the boys knew any of that.

Aelin blew the whistle hard, bracing herself. None of them hit her but the breeze as they sprinted past threatened to knock her unsteady. She had planned for ten minutes and then they would be done.

Gavriel strolled in nonchalantly with his backpack and hands in his pockets with three minutes left. The team sagged with relief at his arrival.

“You aren’t done!” Aelin barked. “Get your asses back on the line!”

They groaned. One of the freshman looked pale, like he was about to vomit. She blew the whistle and they were off. The poor freshman, bless his soul, collapsed to his hands and knees and heaved. Nothing came out but spittle, but Aelin still pitied the boy. He staggered to his feet, wiping his mouth on the sleeve of his grey hoodie. Gods, she admired his determination. One last time and then they were done.

The boys practically cried when she blew the whistle twice to signal the end of conditioning. Rowan nearly knocked her over when he stumbled into her, complaining that his legs felt like jelly. Fenrys and Vaughan were red in the face, lying on their backs on the turf with their arms behind their heads so they could breathe. Aelin took the time to tell the freshman he did well today and he smiled at her, a rosy flush sitting high on his previously-pale cheeks.

After practice, Aelin had to drive them home and stopped by the gas station to buy two big bags of ice. She helped Rowan up the stairs to his bathroom, filling the bathtub with lukewarm water and upending both bags of ice into it. Swishing her hand through the water, she hissed. Damn that was cold. While she was preparing his ice bath, Rowan had stripped down to his underwear and sat in the hallway pouting.

He fought her, even though he knew the ice bath was for his own good. Rowan let loose a long hiss as he stepped into the bathtub, the most vulgar phrases Aelin had ever heard leaving his mouth as he slowly lowered himself into the icy water.

Then it was over and he lay on his back with his resting legs parallel to the wall and perpendicular to his torso, a towel wrapped around his waist. Aelin sat with his head in her lap, gently scraping her nails against his scalp while the feeling returned to his legs. Rowan watched her like a hawk, hands folded across his stomach. His unfairly, perfectly flat, muscled stomach.

“Go shower,” she whispered. “You stink.”

Rowan flicked her nose. “No thanks to you, Miss Galathynius. You’re a hardass.” Aelin gave him her most innocent smile.

She curled up in his bed and dozed while he showered, barely noticing him crawl into bed next to her, smelling faintly of his deodorant and pine-scented soap. Aelin burrowed into him, smiling into his bare chest. She liked shirtless Rowan. He was warm, a proverbial furnace beneath her.

The thought must have been uttered aloud because she felt more than heard his soft rumble of, “I like you too, Aelin.”

* * *

Waking in the middle of the night to pee, Rowan silently slipped from his bed to use the bathroom. After prying Aelin’s arms from around his waist. Then he nudged her gently, Aelin grumbling in her sleep and rewrapping her arms around him and burying her face into his chest. His very bare chest. Rowan fell back asleep fairly easily, breathing in the scent of Aelin’s shampoo with his head ducked low.

An alarm blaring woke both of them up. Rowan groaned, throwing his arm over his eyes and reaching off his bed to slap his phone. Once it was off, he rolled back over and pulled Aelin into his arms, falling back asleep in seconds.

“Get up we’re gonna be late!” Aelin cried. Rowan startled awake, throwing back his comforter.

“Late for what?” he mumbled, rubbing his eyes.

“School, you idiot!”

“Riiiight,” Rowan groaned. “I have first period study hall. Wake me up in half an hour.” He flopped back down, pulling the pillow over his head.

Aelin poked his side until he swatted her hand away. Then she continued doing it until he growled and tackled her into his bed. Their chests heaved, their lips close. Too close. Rowan licked his lips, Aelin’s eyes tracking his movements.

“Rowan,” she whispered, her voice breathy and making him feel things he shouldn’t. Especially not for his best friend.

He couldn’t resist the urge to drag the tip of his nose down her neck, lips pressing a featherlight kiss to the hollow between her collarbones. Her pulse fluttered, cheeks a sunset pink. Aelin’s nails dug into his bicep, her other hand tangled in the fine silver hair at the nape of his neck. Long dark eyelashes brushed her cheek, her breath catching when he cradled her head.

The urge to kiss her was a fury in his blood.

“Rowan Whitethorn and Aelin Galathynius.” Maeve’s voice was cold outside the door and they broke apart, ashamed to have nearly gotten caught doing whatever they were doing. “You two have school in less than half an hour. Get your asses in gear.”

Twenty two minutes later they were rushing through the halls of the school for their homerooms. Rowan sank into his seat next to Vaughan and groaned, head falling into his hands. He was so, so stupid. Why did he do that? Was he _trying_ to fuck up his friendship with Aelin?

The rest of the day passed in a blur, practice only hightening his stress instead of relieving it. With Aelin there, the memory of the way she said his name was all too prevalent in his mind. He missed more shots than he could count. Everything was off today. The team sensed it, their game a little off too because of it.

Rowan listened quietly in the car to Aelin’s rambling. She dropped off, telling him to pull over in the park and get out.

“What’s up with you, buzzard?” Aelin asked, hands on her hips and head cocked at an angle. “You’ve been off all godsdamned day.” He didn’t have a good explanation, so he just shrugged. That wasn’t good enough for Aelin. She stepped closer, he stepped backward. Their stupid little dance continued until his back hit the door to his Jeep. “It was this morning, wasn’t it?” Aelin grinned like the wicked, wicked woman she was. Rowan swallowed thickly, throat bobbing. “It was. You’ve been all flustered since then.”

Rowan’s voice was deeper and rougher than he planned when he said, “If this is all some game to you, Ace, knock it off.”

Her turquoise eyes widened, the ring of gold around her pupil flaring bright. Then her expression hardened into anger. “A game? What are we, teenagers?”

“Yeah, exactly.”

“Fuck you, Ro. Fuck you. You’re an asshole.”

He pretended her words didn’t sting, when in reality they cut deep. “Fine. You can walk home, Aelin.”

“Fine.”

* * *

Aelin cursed Rowan every step of the way home. Thank the gods it wasn’t too far, just over two miles. But her knee was killing her and she just wanted to lay in her bed with a pint of ice cream and ice on her knee and watch some cheesy rom-com. With her best friend.

But they were fighting.

By the time she hobbled up the steps to the front porch, her father was worried sick. She waved him off, taking the fancy wrappable ice pack and her favorite ice cream from the freezer and hopping her way up the stairs. There, she changed into one of Rowan’s old hoodies with the elastic in the cuffs all stretched out from years of pulling them into her fists and a pair of spandex, curling up under her blankets.

Halfway into the movie, someone knocked on her door. Aelin paused her movie, glaring in the direction of the doorway. “Go away, Dad. I don’t wanna talk right now,” she grumbled.

The door opened anyways. A familiar silver head of hair poked into the room, his green eyes full of shame. “I’m not your dad, sorry to disappoint,” Rowan offered with a faint smile.

“Get out of my room,” Aelin hissed. Rowan’s shoulders sank and he turned, prepared to close the door behind him and leave. “Gods help me,” she muttered under her breath. “Rowan, wait!”

He stopped.

“I’m sorry for earlier, I was being a bitch.”

Rowan took her apology in stride, knowing her well enough that she absolutely despised doing it. So when she did apologize, it was sincere. He sat down on the edge of her bed, fingering a loose thread from the comforter.

“I think we both said some things we didn’t mean earlier,” he murmured, pine green gaze focused on his fingers.

Aelin nodded, pulling back the comforter and offering him the spoon. It was the best peace offering he would get. She tried to push down the giddy feeling of warmth when he took it, his side pressed against hers. By the time the movie ended, Aelin dozed with her head on Rowan’s shoulder.

He kissed the top of her head, sweetly.

With sleepy confidence, she shifted to straddle his lap, resting her palm flat against his chest. Rowan stared, unsure of what to make of this new situation. “Rowan,” Aelin began, her cheeks already burning, “I like you. As more than a friend. Gods, I have for years and it’s horrible because I couldn’t say or do anything because I didn’t know how you felt andーI’ll shut up now.”

His mouth opened and closed like a fish, no words coming out.

Defeated and on the verge of tears, Aelin began to crawl off of her bed when Rowan caught her, pressing his lips to hers softly. It was so gentle, their kiss. He pulled her close, kissing her until they were both breathless.

He rested his forehead on hers, catching his breath. “Gods, Ace. You know how many times I’ve dreamed you would say that? A-fucking-lot,” Rowan smiled. His happiness was contagious and Aelin giggled.

“Kiss me again,” she ordered. He happily obeyed.

* * *

It was the division championship game. Rowan glanced at the clock, waiting for the ref’s whistle. When it came, he was already moving. Fenrys won the draw, passing back to Vaughan. Vaughan passed to Lorcan, who walked out and threw the ball to Connall cutting through the center. The reception was clean, the next pass even cleaner. Then it was a simple yet classic back-and-around the crease, a pass to Rowan as he cut across the goal.

Pass, shoot, score.

Simple in its perfection.

A cheer went through the packed stadium. They were in the lead by one with two minutes left. Granted, a lot could happen in two minutes. But they played a patient defense, passing and passing and running out the clock. The other team was getting flustered, fumbling a few passes.

Don’t get cocky.

But Rowan had the shot, so he took it. It bounced off post and right into the waiting stick of Fenrys. Moonbeam’s backhand shot was one for the history books, clearing the goalie’s foot with less than an inch to spare and making a new home in the net.

The buzzer went off, signaling the end of the game. Orynth had won. They were the division champions.

Aelin rushed onto the field, jumping into Rowan’s arms and kissing him soundly. Fenrys made a gagging noise somewhere in the background and Rowan just flipped him off. He had everything he wanted in life: Aelin as his girlfriend and a trophy awaiting him and the team.


End file.
